1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a card connector for memory cards, PC cards, compact flash cards or cards which may be used in notebook-sized personal computers or portable terminal devices.
2. Description of Related Art
As shown in FIG. 7, a conventional card connector comprises a rectangular casing 2 of synthetic resin for holding two cards at upper and lower stages, two rotary levers 3 pivoted with a pin 8 to the rear side of the casing 2, two ejection levers 4 slidably attached to one side of the casing 2 with their rear ends loosely connected to one ends of the rotary levers 3, and with their front ends press-fitted in first buttons 5 of synthetic resin, which are pivoted to second buttons 6 of synthetic resin to permit the second buttons 6 to turn 90 degrees relative to the first buttons 5.
A card 1 is inserted in a selected compartment of the casing 2. As the rotary lever 3 is pushed by the card 1, the rotary lever 3 is made to turn about the pin 8, so that the ejection lever 4 is moved in the direction opposite to the direction in which the card 1 is inserted.
The casing 2 of synthetic resin has metal springs attached to its inside for grounding purpose.
Referring to FIG. 8, the rotary lever 3 is pivoted to the rear end of the casing 2 by using a headed bolt 8. Specifically the headed bolt 8 is press-fitted in a bore 2b made in the frame 2a, which is placed on the rear side of the casing 2 for holding a plurality of contacts 9. A shield plate 7 is sandwiched between the rotary lever 3 and the frame 2a. Thus, the thickness "a" from the upper surface of the frame 2a to the upper surface of the head of the headed bolt 8 is about 1 millimeter, and the total thickness including the one millimeter-thick frame 2a is 2 or more millimeters.
The relatively large thickness is a significant hindrance to the down-sizing of the card connector. Also, disadvantageously the casing of synthetic resin requires the attaching of spring pieces for grounding purposes. This increases the number of parts to be assembled, and accordingly the assembling and manufacturing cost.